English Summer Pipe Tobacco by Samuel Gawith is made from natural leaves, which have sustained a long, ageing process. This gives English Summer pipe tobacco a great, cool slow burning and delicate flavour.

Taste: Medium Sweet

Strength: Medium

Notes: This Flake is part of a limited Four Season series in a wild collaboration of Samuel Gawith, Stanislaw and DTM.These Flakes are:

I was pleasantly surprised by this one. It is a delightful tasting Virginia and the name is perfect as the light citrus like topping offers the perfect refreshment for a summer's day. I was given a decent sample of this one and went through it pretty quickly.

I will say that I enjoyed it more than I did Full Virginia Flake, but it is a very different flake from that one. I found it closer related to Dunhill Flake with its citrus tones and not all too dissimilar to Peter Stokkebye's Luxury Twist Flake, but much better to my tastes.

There is a light floral touch to this one that may offend the soap haters, but I found it barely detectable. I highly recommend this to the Virginia lovers out there.

Hmm. According to the blurb at the top of the page: "...made from natural leaves." Really? As opposed to what, artificial leaves? And where pray do these leaves come from? Tea; the front lawn...? Because I have been left seriously underwhelmed by this concoction.

But let us rewind a bit. We are presented with a slightly chunky and moist mid-brown flake, so far so very Samuel Gawith. But then strange things start happening when you first take a sniff, what is that in there? None of the typical aromas of the purported Virginia, instead a rather sickly sweet essence of rose hip.

Things don't improve on lighting, where there is not much more than the sensation of warm air enveloped by a strong sense of Juicy Fruit chewing gum. Something has clearly been added to the "leaves" and it has just made the blend too sweet and cloying for my tastes.

I really don't know what to make of this, I am working from a small sample so maybe there has been a quality issue here. But I can only base this review on what is in front of me. Very disappointing indeed.

This is a very lively tobacco !It has a very classic taste to it . It has a great aroma from the tin which really draws you in . Rubbing out and filling is very pleasurable . The initial light is lovely and the flavor does not dissipate as the pipe burns down but stays full . The burn is cool and the smoke is delectable ,thick and traditionally Virginia in taste . I don't think you will be disappointed with this !

This is an even-keeled flake. I've never had Dunhill Flake, but I've heard others describe this as similar, so I guess if you like Dunhill Flake, you'll probably like this too!

This is a very bright smelling flake, out of the tin. I agree with others saying it's sort of orange like, but I get some lemony notes too. It does have some Lakeland Essence of some kind on it, but it works really, really well with the brightness of these Virginias. This is also much dryer out of the tin than some of the other Samuel Gawith tobaccos and I didn't feel the need to let it dry out. This is a fairly delicate flake and I believe drying this out too much will make it taste cigarettish. The flakes are very long!, so I don't fold and stuff, rather I rub this out. This packs very well and lights easily for SG. This is very, very cool smoking and I was smoking it out of a Nosewarmer.

I don't get a bunch of petrol and auto shop notes that I tend to get with other brights, rather I get an even, nice, pleasant, faintly citrus profile from the get go. Mid bowl, it sugars up some, but not too much. I noticed that this stayed lit very well indeed for an SG flake! During mid bowl, I got some lovely garden shed notes, sort of wet and dusty, with some greenness and the faint, faint smell that you get from the lawnmower and various other garden implements being parked in it, sort of green and faintly oily. C'mon you know what I mean!

As with some other SG tobaccos, this left a great aftertaste in my mouth!

A bright Virginia flake flake with gold and light through to mid brown leaf. The cut is about the 1mm mark, fine and easy to rub up to a fluffy ball. The pouch smell is mainly topping and has a rosehip scent to my nose.

Lighting up is a quick process and the topping is instantly transferred to your tongue. Its sweet very sweet and light to smoke and has all the floral traits of a Lakeland style all be it a very mild one. Then at about mid pipe I get an orange flavour which is solid and quite strong and refreshing, a little soapy however it is very fruity. The taste of the tobacco ever present and pleasant but mild as you would expect for such a flake.

I like Lakeland leaf, not every day but like a lot get cravings for the floral. I find this tobacco to be super light in every aspect of the smoking bar the taste which is very tasty. The mouthfeel is light and I find I pull on the pipe a lot to get large clouds of smoke, it makes me greedy for more.

So a summer smoke it is for sure due to the light nature. A straight vg it is not as claimed at the top of the page. Nicotine is in very short supply and right now at half past midnight of a cold morning it fails to satisfy my cravings. I am sure some summer heat will have this about spot on for mid day smoking around company. So a light fresh smoke with welcome room smells for the crowd. Changing little throughout the smoke bar an orange flavour about mid way through.

Very SG-like long flakes that are not too hard to fold. Takes a little patience with the length if you're a folder and stuffer but very do-able. Mostly light in color, with a tin aroma of basic lemon Virginia. Makes sense for a blend named for the warmest season. I don't know who the Stanislaw tobacco folks are so I don't know where they fit into this tobacco... looks like it's their recipe and SG's tobaccos.

This gave me much more than I expected. I was thinking along the lines of Dunhill Flake and it wasn't that far off, but the citrus character wasn't as overt. I actually got more of an orange Virginia flavor, which when done well is probably my favorite. The sweetness is there but there is no sense of the leaf being marinated in orange peel. The tanginess is there but it's more mellow and less attention-grabbing. Orange is, of course, in the middle. I noticed a faint spice as well, perhaps a topping of some kind but it wasn't so blatant that I could name it. This was a well-made blend, nowhere near as tiresome over time to smoke as most straight lemon VA's. I'd classify this as a 3.5 star blend but I'm rounding it up due to its genial nature on top of a bit of sassiness. I probably won't buy it again but it's still an excellent flake and highly recommended to Virginia lovers.

This is a really light Virginia flake with sour lemon topping. It is amazing, because I didn't know you could make Virginia flake offer hints of sour lemon. I didn't notice a lot of sweetness, which in this case was fine.

Normally I despise any kind of a topping, but this is a wonderful tobacco. In the heat and humidity of the Gulf Coast the whispers of sour lemon, with nothing thick or cloying, is very refreshing indeed.

I love smoking this stuff while sipping hot tea with a squeeze of lemon. Earl Grey seems to have been made for this flake, and this flake for Earl Grey.

This flake has a very light flavor profile overall, so when you sample it just remember that it is supposed to be super light on the pallette. If I am looking for lots of flavor I smoke C&D Opening Night, or Samuel Gawith Full Virginia Flake. This is for hot afternoons.

This is the 3rd of the 4 seasons line that I have tried so far. As with the others, this one will need some drying time before some would even consider putting fire to it. YMMV on this point. Upon opening the tin you get a very nice tin note and the flakes are nice and thin for easy rubbing out. This lights and stays lit with little effort once properly dried. The weed used is the usual quality from SG. The nicotine level is on the lower end, so it should be no problem for those with a lower tolerance. Burns down to a nice ash at the end of the bowl. Definitely recommended whenever it is available.

Nicely prepared flakes that are rather moist from the tin but easily folded and packed. Very slight floral tin aroma of the SG variety but this level didn't bother me. Lights easily and relights are not needed with proper packing. To fit its name and smoke in the hot weather, its strength and nic level is low and I would not choose this for a year round smoke.

Upon opening the tin you will be greeted by a very discreet hey aroma, typically for Virginias. There are no topings, additives or flavourings in this flake, what you smell is just how Virginia does smell incl. the citrus like aroma some make out in it.

The flakes came perfectly conditioned right out of the tin, even a bit on the dry side, which is a first for Samuel Gawith but is common for DTM who actually makes this fine and limited tobacco series. So, packing and especially lighting is a joy. Once lit it burns on its own and very, very hassle free.

The taste is that of hey-like Virginia with some slight sweetness to it, that also carries on in the aftertaste, so no surprises here. The aroma is delicate yet very faint. You need an already trained palette to get the most out of it and it that regard it is not for the beginner. Also if smoked too hot it quickly looses the already light aroma and only hot air remains. Which, in my mind, is an awful trade for a summer tobacco. When the temperature is above 30°C its rather hard to keep your smoke cool.

Towards the end it loses what little flavour was present and only very fine, white ashes do remain. Also this flake is not for the filter smoker, hardly anything gets through if you use them.

Strength is on the very weak side, but that's a good thing for a summer tobacco. Also, it reminds me too of the current incarnation of Dunhill Flake, both in taste as well in flatness and one-dimensionality.

Room note is that of pure Virginia but on the cigarette side.

Do i recommend this flake? I somewhat do. But only in the summer and only if you really are into very light (both strength and taste) tobaccos. For any other season this flake is just too weak and dull to satisfy. I did like it, and for its purpose i give it 3 stars. Else i only would give it two stars for the reasons above.

A side note: i got this tin without the Samuel Gawith logo on it and containing only 40g. I guess this is for tax and/or import reasons for the Austrian market.

This is the first of "the four seasonal" blends that I have tried. I have to say I was not impressed. It looks rather nice in the tin. Light brown flakes with some yellow strands mixed in. It smells good to me. Almost like golden sliced. It came fairly dry compared to other SG flakes I have dealt with in the past.

Upon first light you get a subtle but somewhat sweet Virginia flavour. As the bowl progresses this flavour comes and goes. Every now and then if I really concentrated on my cadence I would get a mild sweet almost citrus flavour. Mostly I got hot air and no nicotine. I have put the remander of my tin in a mason jar. Maybe some time will help this blend. As of now I would not purchase again.

If you like really mild Virginias, this may be for you. I need more strength.

I'd nearly have to call this a lighter flavoured version of Peterson's Uni Flake. To me it has a very similar taste profile Blueberries. Not as sharp as the UF, and in my opinion a better structured and burning tobacco.